WINNSBORO – Richard Winn Eagle basketball teams had a busy schedule over the past week, competing in four games in the past seven days. Three of those games included road trips to Anderson Christian (Anderson) – Jan. 19, Cambridge (Greenwood) – Jan. 20, and King (Batesburg) – Jan. 25. The Eagles hosted the Wardlaw Patriots on Monday, Jan. 24.
Following a week of postponed competitions due to Covid spread, the Lady Eagles did not travel to compete against Anderson Christian but resumed the season by competing at Cambridge Academy.
The Lady Eagles and Lady Cougars finished the first quarter locked in a 7-7 tie, and the two teams continued to keep the game close with Richard Winn taking the 23-20 lead into the locker room at halftime. However, while Cambridge had their best quarter of scoring in the third period, the visiting Lady Eagles experienced a scoring dry spell and fell behind by 10 points going into the final 8 minutes. The third quarter deficit proved to be too great for the Lady Eagles to overcome as they suffered their first region loss, 38-49.
Mikaela Miller led Richard Winn’s offense with 17 points, and Meagan Brigman followed with 10. Abby Lewis and Delaney Young added 4 points each, and Brinson Baker had 3.
The Lady Eagles’ misfortune continued at home against the Wardlaw Patriots. Both teams struggled on offense, but Wardlaw topped the scoreboard 5-2 at the end of the first period. RWAs Brigman was the first player to score a basket in the second quarter, but the Lady Patriots went on to add 14 to their total while holding Richard Winn scoreless throughout the remainder of the quarter.
Unfortunately the scoring drought continued into the third quarter for the Lady Eagles with the only points coming from a basket scored by Miller. The Lady Patriots continued to build their lead, 31-6. During fourth quarter action, Richard Winn outscored the visitors 15-11, but the rally was too late. The Lady Eagles dropped their second region loss of the season, 21-42.
Once again Miller led the Lady Eagles in the scoring column with 10 points. Brigman had 6, Baker 3, and Young added 2.
Coach McElveen’s squad made traveled to Batesburg on Tuesday for a region match-up against the Lady Knights of King Academy. A scoring slump in the second and third quarters proved to be fatal as RWAs fourth quarter 17 point rally fell short of the victory. The Lady Eagles overall record fell to 5-4 and and 1-3 in region action with the 29-34 loss to King.
Miller topped the Lady Eagles’ scoring with 15. Brigman followed with 6, Young had 4, and Baker and Emma Steed added 2 apiece.
Richard Winn Boys
Coach Nick Chaisson’s varsity boys’ team boosted their overall record (11-4) with three region wins against one loss (4-1) during the past week’s action.
The Eagles got off to a 17 point start in the first quarter and added 21 more in the second period behind the hot hand of Lawson Wade, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half. Drew Spires, the team’s leading scorer with 19, consistently posted points in each of the four quarters of play. Wade pulled down 15 total rebounds while Rob Wilson led the team with 9 assists and added 5 points. Miller Stuck nailed three 3-pointers for 9 points and had 3 blocks. The Eagles earned their second victory and region win over the AC Lions, 50-42.
Less than 24 hours after the long, mid-week road trip to Anderson, the Eagles got on the road again to Greenwood and came home with another victory.
The 78-42 win over the Cambridge Cougars notched the third region win for the Eagles. Nine of the team’s players tallied points in the Richard Winn score book. Wade led all scorers with 23 points, and Spires followed with 19. Wade also pulled down 11 rebounds and tied Stuck with 4 assists apiece while Spires collected 5 steals. Stuck had 9 points, Landon Caulder-8, Kitt Nicholson-7, Ethan Steward-6, and Travis Bonds, Jacob Chaisson, and Edward Clement had 2 each.
Monday’s home matchup against the Wardlaw Patriots earned the Eagles another notch on the region victory belt. Richard Winn handily controlled the game from tip off to the final buzzer. The Patriots were held scoreless in the first period while the Eagles racked up 17.
The second quarter was not much more productive for the visitors, but the Eagles continued to build their lead, 36-3. The Eagles’ teamwork, skills, and speed proved too much for the Patriots as the Eagles soared to the 63-14 victory.
RWA got points from 11 players. Wade led the scoring with 11, and Spires had 10. Steward-8; Charlie Bonds and Chaisson-6 apiece; Wilson-5; T. Bonds-4; Caulder, Nicholson, and Clement-2 each.
The Eagles narrowly trailed the King Knights by 3 points at the end of the first and second quarters (11-14 and 18-21) on Tuesday night. Both teams battled the entire game to hang onto their undefeated region records.
With the score tied at 28 at the end of the third period, the last 8 minutes of play would determine which team would hang onto the undefeated record. As the final buzzer went off, it was the Knights who would claim the 1 point victory, 39-38.
The Eagles were led by Stuck with a hot-handed 21 points. Spires added 7, and Wilson and Wade contributed 5 apiece. No other stats were available as of press time.
The Eagles will travel to Laurens on Friday and are scheduled to pack in four make-up games next week. First, they host Newberry on Feb. 1 and Laurens on Feb. 2, then travel to Wardlaw on Feb. 3 before returning to take on Cambridge at home on Feb. 4. All are region matchups.
